The Navy kicked off an exercise, the Repair Technology Exercise (REPTX), testing over 60 maintenance technologies aboard its Self Defense Test Ship on Aug. 22.
The REPTX will run Aug. 22 to Sept. 2 at Naval Base Ventura County, Calif., with over 60 technology suppliers testing their products’ ability to address real-world fleet maintenance challenges onboard the ex-Paul F. Foster
(DD-964), a former Spruance-class destroyer now used as a platform to test naval weapons and new technologies.
The technologies aim to cover challenges like assessing and repairing potential battle damage during the REPTX’s technical demonstrations and field experiments aboard the Self Defense Test Ship.
The test ship is an asset of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD).
“Our priorities as a warfare center are to deliver and sustain readiness, modernize and maintain the current fleet, and field the surface fleet of the future. REPTX demonstrates these priorities by allowing both industry, government and academia to work side-by-side while exploring innovative maintenance concepts that we can rapidly deliver to our forward-deployed warfighters,” Capt. Andrew Hoffman, NSWC PHD commanding officer, said in a statement.
Participants include private industry, government and academia groups all demonstrating technologies meant to address one of four focus areas: visualization, command and control aids, forward manufacturing and expeditionary maintenance. The technology must also be capable of taking on a routine purpose beyond damage control and be user-friendly so the ship’s crew can learn to operate it quickly.
The Navy explained visualization means the dynamic inspection methods that allow a ship to see itself and the world around it both above and below the water line; command and control aids seek to help commanders make quick data-driven decisions and real-time situational assessments; forward manufacturing includes additive manufacturing or 3D printing systems to reduce reliance on long-distance supply chains; and expeditionary maintenance means the Navy’s ability to perform maintenance and battle damage assessment and repair while a vessel is forward-deployed.
Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA) Naval Systems Engineering and Logistics Directorate Technology Office (NAVSEA 05T) specifically chose 65 technologies to participate in the REPTX part in the event. The technologies include additive manufacturing equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles and submersible vessels, ship-to-shore communication systems, inspection and repair tools, and above- and below-water visualization devices.
The Navy said REPTX will test these technologies in scenarios including loss of lighting, unidentified object on the hull, pipe corrosion and leakage and damage to ship superstructure.
“The format will provide a realistic fielding environment, both pier-side and underway, allowing teams the chance to field, adjust, learn and retest their solutions,” Janice Bryant, sustainment technology manager at NAVSEA 05T and the sponsor of REPTX, added.
REPTX is part of the larger Advanced Naval Technology Exercise-Coastal Trident 2022 event running from June through September. NSWC PHD organizes this schedule to boost port and maritime security via field experiments with emerging technologies and training events with law enforcement and other first responders.